KEY POINTS:
A pregnant New Zealand woman who survived a boating accident in Malaysia this week said she and six other tourists discussed the weather and baby names to keep calm as they clung to the vessel's upturned hull and waited to be rescued, newspapers reported Thursday.
Kimberley Chin-Poy, a New Zealand citizen formerly of Tauranga who lives in Sydney, was one of 11 people on a tour boat that capsized between Libaran island and Sandakan on the east coast of Sabah state on Borneo island on Tuesday.
All but one person -- the Malaysian wife of one of the tour guides -- survived.
In an interview with News Ltd newspapers, Mrs Chin-Poy, 31, described how she was initially trapped under the hull of the boat when it capsized in rough seas.
"I found an air pocket inside the boat. I managed to grab a couple of breaths and looked for the light. I went back under again and surfaced. My life jacket pulled me up," The Daily Telegraph newspaper quoted her as saying.
Mrs Chin-Poy said she and the others on board -- including four Australians, two Britons and four Malaysians -- clung to the hull of the boat while waiting to be rescued.
"I think one of the locals suggested swimming and immediately we all said, 'No'," Mrs Chin-Poy recalled. "It was ridiculous because the waves were so big."
Mrs Chin-Poy said the group tried to stay calm by talking about baby names, the weather and looking for sea turtles as they waited to be rescued.
About an hour after the accident, Mrs Chin-Poy was plucked from the sea by a passing boat, but the remaining members of the group spent four hours bobbing in the swell before eventually swimming around 4km to shore, the newspaper said.
Mrs Chin-Poy's parents last night told NZPA of their relief at hearing their daughter and unborn grandchild had survived the ordeal.
"The main thing was we knew she was safe. Your initial reaction is 'hell, what's happened here' and then we heard she had been picked up and was back on the island."
Mrs Chin-Poy, who injured her hand, was eventually able to borrow a cellphone and ring her parents to assure them she and the baby were alright.
"We just got a call a little while ago to say she'd had a medical check up and the baby's well, and there's no problems," the parents said.
- NZPA
